UPDATE: Nation hits Leno in education-focused mailer

State Senate candidate Joe Nation is out with a mailer targeting Democratic primary opponent Mark Leno on the issue of education, accusing the Assemblyman of voting for a bill that would result in cuts to public school funding.

“Mark Leno stood with republicans and said ‘Yes.’ In 2004, Mark Leno joined the majority of Assembly Republicans to cut education funding by $3.1 billion statewide, including $75 million for the North Bay and San Francisco. It was the largest funding cut to schools in California history,” the mailer states.

“The measure, SB 1101, passed with only one vote to spare, so Leno’s vote made a big difference in eliminating money that teachers and schools so desperately needed.” (Click here to see the mailer.)

According to the Nation campaign, the piece was mailed to about 80,000 voters in District 3, which covers Marin County and parts of San Francisco and Sonoma counties.

It’s not the first time Nation, a former Assemblyman, has taken aim at Leno on the vote. Earlier this month, Nation held a press conference with public school teachers to discuss the matter. The campaign’s focus on the issue underscores a belief that education is an issue of significance for families living in the area.

"The fact Joe Nation has resorted to sending out press releases about his own mail distorting Mark Leno's record shows he is getting no traction, and he has nothing substantive to share with the voters of the 3rd Senate District,"says Leno campaign manager Tom Higgins, who pointed out that the campaign had won the endorsement of the California Federation of Teachers and California Teachers Association. "What Joe isn't telling the voters in his campaign smears is that he simply stood on the sidelines in the Assembly and voted for the budget before he voted against it."

Nation and Leno are challenging incumbent Carole Migden in the June 3 primary.